


The Rogue Tales

by Inky (Ink_Glitch)



Series: RogueTale AU [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Sad, roguetale
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 04:12:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16256420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ink_Glitch/pseuds/Inky
Summary: A collection of RogueTale drabbles and shorts, mostly focusing on Sans.More tags will be added as needed.





	1. Regret

**Author's Note:**

> Word Count: 625
> 
> Chapter Summary: Sans misses life before the civil war, and one flame elemental in particular.

Sans hunched in on himself, door to his quarters locked tightly with magic so no one would disturb him. His normal hooded cape was tossed in a crumpled ball on the floor, and instead he had a dark green jacket draped over his shoulders. The hood, surrounded by soft tan fluff, was up over his bowed head.

His knees were tucked up to his chest, and his arms crossed over them, hands desperately clutching onto the edges of the jacket, pulling it tightly around him. His shoulders trembled slightly, and streams of soft green magic left tracks down his cheeks.

He missed Snowdin. He missed his house, where he and Papyrus had lived, he missed his sentry stations, he missed the decorated tree in the middle of the town. He missed Papyrus. And most of all he missed Grillby. Grillby, his first and closest friend, who had given him the sweater so long ago, who had been so kind to him and Papyrus when they were younger and Sans had to work so hard to support them, and who had always been there for him.

Always ready to listen to Sans, to give him a warm drink, or a warm meal, and even warm hugs, the thing Sans had always looked forward to. When Sans had a bad day, he always knew, no matter how late it was, he could show up at Grillby’s, and he would be there. They would sit at a booth and Grillby would put an arm around him, pulling him to his side, and let Sans lean there as he talked about his troubles.

He had been planning to tell Grillby exactly how much those times had meant to him, to ask him if he wanted to go to the Spider Cafe for coffee and maybe take a walk afterwards, when the war had started and he found himself on the opposite side of the Snowdin Canyon, fighting alongside Ex-queen Toriel and the rest of the pro-human resistance, while Grillby and Snowdin remained where they were, only a shortcut away. But today, to Sans, it may as well have been the Surface. 

He was in pain, missing his old life so badly, but he knew he wouldn’t be happy going back, knowing that those around him thought that the sweet human child, Frisk, deserved to die. But still, it hurt. It hurt so bad that he couldn’t even bring himself to wear the jacket every day, like he had before. It stayed hidden in a box under his bed, only brought out on days like today, where he had to see Papyrus fighting on the other side or see Grillby walking through the woods like he had always been prone to do. Days where the pain was so intense he cried, hid himself away from everyone else and just let everything free. 

He knew, one way or another, the war would end. But he had no idea if he would ever be able to repair his bond with Papyrus, or ….whatever it was that he had with Grillby. He was scared of what that day would bring. Because he had no idea if he could ever make it up to them. Make up for the fact that he had left them behind, even though he had never wanted to.

But he had to be strong. Strong for Toriel, strong for the resistance that he helped her lead. So today he would cry, cry until he had no more tears and fell asleep from the weight of it all, and tomorrow he would again be Commander Sans, second-in-command, and he would stay that way until the cycle repeated itself, and kept repeating itself, and maybe, someday, things would get better.


	2. Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 985
> 
> Grillby is closing up when Sans appears in his bar, smiling the widest smile he's ever had.

It was a late night, close to 12, and Grillby was just about finished with the last of his closing chores. The last straggling patrons had left almost forty-five minutes ago, the dishes had been cleared from the tables, all the surfaces had been wiped, the fryers cooled and cleaned, and now he was just flipping the last chair up onto the table. 

The day had been busy, though not overly so, but his favorite customer and best friend, Sans, had been noticeably absent. This worried him. Sans not coming in meant it had been a bad day. It meant that they were scraping by on the end of a paycheck or that Sans’ own inner demons had been more aggressive than usual. 

It was one reason that he had taken so long to finish closing, lingering on every task, unlike his normal efficient self. Occasionally, on days like that, Sans came in late, near or after closing time. 

A ping told him that Sans had done just that. He turned, surprised to see the small skeleton standing right behind him, his permanent grin stretched wider than any other time Grillby had ever seen it. 

“h-hey grilbz. you’ll never guess what happened today.” His voice wavered with thick emotion. 

“.....What Sans, is something wrong?” Grillby set down a chair.

“heh. quite- quite the opposite in fact. my bro. he got promoted. like really promoted.” Sans face brightened even more, grin stretching wider. “like…. really promoted. he’s the captain of the snowdin guard division now. in charge of the canine unit.”

“...That’s wonderful. Tell him I’m happy for him.” Grillby smiled a little. Papyrus was a good, hard-working kid. He deserved a promotion.”

“i will. hey grillby, you kno-know what else the promotion ca-ame with?” Sans’ voice became steadily unsteadier as he spoke. “i-i-it came with- with a pay raise. a r-really bi-ig one.”  
Grillby nodded, moving closer to Sans. Sans’ smile was now wavering like his words, and he was swaying a little. 

“it came with a really big pay raise. a-and that mea-eans that it’s not all m-my job anymore, grilbz. it’s not- not- it’s not….” and then the smile was gone, and green magic tears were streaming down Sans’ face. He was shaking slightly now, and looked… almost broken. 

Grillby went right to his first instinct. He knelt down, reached out his arms, and pulled Sans into a tight hug. He wrapped the trembling skeleton tightly in his arms, and let him cry. Sans held on tight, as though he thought Grillby would disappear. His shoulders shook as he let out choked laughs in between his sobs.

They stayed like that for almost twenty minutes before the sobbing slowed. Green tears still streamed down his cheeks, and he was hiccuping slightly, something that Grillby had long ago learned that skeletons did, despite lacking lungs.

“....Let’s go sit down, I’ll be right back and you can tell me all about it.” He slowly let go of Sans, the same tiny part of him that always spoke up when Sans was around making it harder than it should have been. Sans let go too, and made his way unsteadily to a booth. 

Grillby retreated to the back of the restaurant and pulled a serving of fries and three hot dogs from the giant freezer. Perks of being a fire elemental, he could cook things almost instantly. Putting the food on a plate and grabbing a large bottle of sour pickle relish, something he knew his closest friend had a deep love for, before returning to the front and sliding in next to Sans. 

He put the plate and bottle in front of the skeleton, and before Sans could protest, he raised one hand and put the other on Sans’ shoulder.

“...I know you can’t pay, and I don’t care. You can just eat it. You can eat here whenever you like. Or put it on a tab. Pay later. I don’t care, but you are exhausted, emotionally and I assume magically. So eat.”

“o-ok. put it o-on a tab.” Sans’ voice still wavered slightly, and was quieter even than usual. He ate slowly, pouring almost the entire bottle of relish on his plate. Grillby sat quietly the whole time, hand still on Sans’ shoulder, his flames emitting a soft, relaxing heat. 

When Sans was finished, he leaned against Grillby, seemingly trying to get as much of the gentle warmth as possible, and just started to talk. 

His voice shook and he almost started crying again a few times as he told Grillby how hard life had been, how the skeleton brother had lived on the streets, in a hotel, and most recently in a tiny shack. How many jobs had been working, and just how many he still was. How he was always worried about money, and how often Grillby’s small gifts and gestures had saved them. And finally he told him about the relief he felt, how much it meant that he wasn’t alone in carrying the burden.

He kept talking and talking until he fell asleep, and Grillby sat quietly, listening, arm tight around him. After he had drifted off, Grillby carefully removed his arm, taking the plate and bottle back to the kitchen. He lifted Sans carefully, moving him until he was carrying the skeleton piggyback. Then he locked the bar quietly, and carried Sans up the stairs in the back, laying him gently on the couch, as he knew that it was far too late to take him home to Papyrus, who would most likely be asleep by now.

Sans curled into his hoodie as Grillby placed a blanket over him, and Grillby smiled down softly at his friend. He was finally unburdened, and Grillby was sure that it must be the best feeling in the world for the small skeleton who had been forced to grow up far too fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wondering why Grillby has fryers if he can near-instantly cook food, it's because it would require too much magic to cook that way all day, with the amount of food he needs to cook.


	3. Rogue! Sans Art

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A drawing of Sans looking back at the Snowdin Canyon.


End file.
